Botched Spay?

[sea4th]

I am really upset. I placed an extremely nice young bitch, just under a year, in a working home. Since my rescue efforts are all out of pocket, I would not be able to afford to spay or neuter every dog I take in at close to 300.00 a pop. The city where I live has a low cost spay and neuter program which I use often and have never had a problem.

 

This time something went wrong. This little bitch could not take the anesthetic and surgery and I was called at work that I'd better come pick her up. I did and rushed her to one of my vets. She had lost a lot of blood. Her gums were pale and cold. She spent a couple of nights on IV's, basically treated like a shock victim. She was released home and is now with her new owner. She is acting normal in every way except that while she's awake, if she has to urinate, she cannot hold it. She is OK at night, but while she's awake, she can't make it to the door.

 

I am furious that I took in a healthy dog and picked up a dog who looked like she was near death. I'm hoping that the vet who did the surgery didn't nick her bladder. We're calling the treating vet today to see what might be up.

 

Any ideas? Could it just be swelling after a traumatic surgery, or what.

 

I'm bordering on livid at this point.

[kelpiegirl]

hey there:

I would get her into the vet- they may have to either do a lap (if they are avail) and/or sonogram/xray to see what is going on. Did she have any pre-surg bwork done? Did they use monitoring equipment? Sometimes unforseable things can happen- there is no routine spay- in my opinion. Anyway, I would get her to a vet, and see what is going on.

If she had a knicked bladder she would be getting VERY VERY sick.

Julie

[bobh]

Julie is right , if she had a nicked bladder ,At least in humans , she would be very sick and geting worse.

I would bring her to a specilist your own vet may or may not just put her on meds. with out finding the cause . Lol i am sorry this happened

bobh

[jrid]

I had a beagle spayed and within a couple of days she had adhesions. She had to urinate every few minutes. She was put on steroids for several days and after that she was okay.

[sea4th]

Did she have any pre-surg bwork done? Did they use monitoring equipment? Sometimes unforseable things can happen- there is no routine spay- in my opinion.

No. At the low cost that the city provides to it's residents, there are no extras, pre or post. With the amount of dogs (and cats) that they do, it's like an assembly line process, I'm sure. I've had a lot of dogs done in the past, but there have been different vets throughout the years too.

 

I agree too that there is no such thing as "routine" when it comes to surgery. Once I took a pregnant puppy mill dog, one whose body had been through the ringer having one litter after another, into my regular vet for a spay. She is the one I expected to have problems and paid almost 300.00 for that surgery. She came through no problems at all. This, a young and [seemingly] healthy little bitch, nearly dies.

 

I feel comfortable with the vet who she is seeing now. I'm also relieved to hear your responses about a possible nicked bladder. That's a relief. Hopefully, this is something that is very treatable.

 

I will keep you all posted. Thank you.

[sea4th]

I called the dog's owner today and asked how she was doing. I was told she no longer appeared to have the "urgency" she did even yesterday, that she appears to be better. I know the owner is watching her like a hawk and if she reverts to anything which gives us cause for concern, we'll take her in at that time.

 

Maybe post surgical swelling? My other vet said that the crown of the cervix could be pressing into the bladder. Either way, maybe I've been darned lucky, but I've never had a problem like this with a spay.

 

So it appears that the biggest problem for now is keeping her, a young border collie, quiet for about a week.

[bobh]

GOOD NEWS

Bobh

[Liz P]

I used to work at a vet clinic where we did low cost S/N all the time. It really is an assembly line process and the dogs do not get the same careful treatment that full cost dogs get. There was no bloodwork, the cheapest drugs were used, the dogs did not get pain meds. It was not that the vet didn't care or wasn't as careful during surgery, the dogs just can't be monitored as closely and problems like a dog bleeding out may go unnoticed longer. Sometimes low cost programs don't even use monitoring equipment during surgery, meaning that they don't know if there is a problem until the dog starts turning blue.

 

One of my own BCs started having seizures while having his teeth cleaned because it turned out he was very sensitive to a particular drug the vet used. He was also at a working weight so he had less fat to metabolize the drugs. No dog is perfectly safe going under anesthesia, but when it comes to low cost S/N programs you really do get what you pay for.

[sea4th]

No dog is perfectly safe going under anesthesia, but when it comes to low cost S/N programs you really do get what you pay for.

Yep, that's what I was afraid of and I have to agree. That being the case, I'd have to stop doing rescue because I can't afford 300.00 for a spay or neuter, along with whatever else the dog needs.

 

I'm seriously thinking a lot of things over.

 

Thank you everyone for your input. I hope this little girl continues to improve. She's one heck of a dog.

[juliepoudrier]

Not all low-cost S/N programs cut all corners. When I took my recue kitty in to be neutered I used a low-cost clinic after my vet quoted $125 for a castration. The cat was well taken care of at the low-cost clinic and was sent home with pain meds too (that's the first time I've ever had a surgery patient sent home with pain meds--and all previous S/N's I've had done were at the regular vet). When I used to work for a vet and assist in surgery (a couple of decades ago, when pain meds weren't the standard of care), I can assure you that vets didn't automatically use the "best of the best" just because you were a full paying customer....

 

That said, you have to weigh the costs/benefits of low-cost vs. regular programs. If you've had one bad incident is it enough to condemn all low-cost programs?

 

J.

[sea4th]

If you've had one bad incident is it enough to condemn all low-cost programs?

Heck no. But I'm paranoid now. Although I've had a lot of dogs done by this service for years, this is the first time I've had any sort of a problem. The difference is, is they depend of funding. They have also had different vets who volunteer their time. I liked the vets they've had there before, but I don't know this one. I also know of some practices that charge a lot for their services, yet I wouldn't take my dogs to them for anything.

 

Is it the vet, in this case? Is it the individual dog? Combination? They don't have the funding to send an animal home with pain meds either. I think it's difficult enough to get someone who volunteers their time to do this service.

 

That being said, it was the person who works at the city kennel who I've known for several years, who made the call to me. She's the one who suggested I take her to my own vet. When I got there, the dogs was on the floor, on a bunch of pillows with a blanket over her. So they obviously don't have pre or post op services and just rely on the fact that most of the animals who come through there, are resiliant enough to bounce back after the surgery. This pup was obviously in the minority. ---AND, BTW, continues to improve.

[Liz P]

Julie, you are right that not all low cost S/N programs are created equal. I know vets who discount their services to rescues but still give them full service. But, if you go to a clinic that charges $50 you shouldn't be expecting "the works."

 

Vicki, I bet you can find a vet who will do discount spays for your rescue dogs for less than $300. You just need to make some phone calls. Can you ask some of the larger, organized rescues which vets they use?

 

I have known rescues who ask the new owners to pay for S/N. On the day of adoption they drop the dog off at the vet of choice of the new owners. The new owners then go to the vet to pick the dog up and must pay the bill to get the dog and paperworork. It's not ideal, but it works.